Hostage
by RumbleRoar811
Summary: When Luna is taken hostage off the Hogwarts Express, what happens to her there? What will Neville do to get her back? How does the Hogwarts Rebellion continue without one of its key leaders? Please R&R!
1. The Hogwarts Express

On The Hogwarts Express

Luna sighed, looking out the window as the scarlet train snaked its way through the bleak countryside. The sky was grey, as it had been nearly all year, and snow was beginning to fall on the gloomy landscape. The Hogwarts express was quieter this year than ever before, especially seeing as it was Christmas. So many were going home to broken families, so many had lost parents or siblings. She looked over to where Ginny and Neville were chatting animatedly about ways to subvert the grip the Carrows and Snape held over the school.

"Well, we could start putting up posters everywhere. I'm sure the Room of Requirement would be able to create a printing press, or just give us ready-made posters." Said Ginny.

"Yeah, but we need to start being more careful. They know it's us, Ginny." Said Neville, a crease between his eyebrows appearing. His face was bruised and battered, and he had a long cut running down his left cheek that was soon to add to his collection of newly acquired scars. His hair had become unruly, and a confident and rebellious demeanor had replaced his old anxious one.

Hannah Abbott and Ernie MacMillan appeared in the compartment doorway, grinning.

"I got your message, Neville" Ernie said holding up his enchanted D.A. galleon. Ernie, who notably no longer had his silver prefects badge gleaming from his chest, looked thoroughly exhausted. He had resigned as prefect the first day of term, as had most prefects, in protest of the new regime. A green and purple bruise on his left eye clouded his earnest brown eyes, and his blond hair was ashy and gray, leaving him looking worn-out.

Hannah plopped down in the empty seat across from Luna, and Ernie sat down next to Neville across from Luna and Ginny. Ginny grinned, but then said "We can only plan now, but when break is over I was thinking that we should paper the school with DA posters."

"That sounds good, but we have to watch out for Nargles. They love printing presses, and make a habit of tearing posters up," Luna said dreamily, making the others start. "Daddy has a spray to keep them away, he uses it at home. I will bring it back after holiday. I can't wait to get home; I don't think I've ever been this anxious to be away from school."

Ginny looked at her, pain flashing briefly into her warm brown eyes. "It just won't feel like Christmas this year." She said, biting her lip in worry. There was silence in the compartment, because they all knew why she was worried, or moreover, for whom she was worried.

Luna took her hand. "They'll be ok," she murmured. "They always are". Ginny's brown eyes met Luna's silver blue ones. A mischievous grin spread slowly across her also bruised, but freckled, face.

"So assuming we aren't all in detention the week we get back for God knows what, we_ are_ doing this. Neville, you should get the posters, you know how to work the Room best. Hannah, can you meet up with Neville to get them to Hufflepuff? Luna you also need to meet him there to get them for Ravenclaw. I will organize the Gryffindors; Luna, can you get someone to gather the Ravenclaws, Michael maybe? Ernie you should organize the Hufflepuffs. Wednesday night we will all get the posters, and start putting them up. Remember to practice in the common rooms, so we can get the permanent sticking charms right. Paper the entire castle, especially the entrance hall. Get as many people as we can, the more the better, and if someone gets caught, fight our way out of it. Avoid the Carrows at all costs; any other teacher we run into will probably just correct our incantations. Only bring along students who can do the charm easily and quickly. Any questions?"

They all grinned. They had been doing small things all year, but never anything of this caliber. This would involve covering the entire school with posters, and they planned on using charms powerful enough that only McGonagall or Flitwick could take the posters down, which they certainly wouldn't do.

"Make sure to get the ceilings of the Carrows' classrooms." Hannah piped up. "That will irritate the hags" she said, her round face alight with determination. Since she had returned to school in September for the first time since her mother's death the previous year, she had been eager to get some revenge. She had a different light behind her eyes than before she had left; her previous carefree attitude had been replaced with a fiery resilience.

"Right." Neville injected. "We want hundreds of them up all around the school. If any of us end up in detention that night, the show must go on. Make sure that we all have someone to back us up just in case".

Ginny's eyes glowed with pride at her friends' willingness to endanger themselves for this rebellion. This wasn't like pulling pranks on Umbridge; if they were caught now, they were tortured for punishment. Luna knew that Ginny had wanted to do something like this for months, and she could not wait to see the school papered over entirely in DA posters. They began to iron out the details, deciding who would be where and when, and who would act as lookouts. They needed some revenge, and now they were going to take it. Just as they were finishing their plans for their next attack, the train came to a sudden screeching halt.

They all knew why the train had been stopped. Someone was going to be taken, but they had no idea who. Neville looked up nervously, his eyes flicking around the carriage. The compartment's stagnant silence filled the air for a few seconds, before Neville broke the tension. "Who stopped the train? Ministry or Death Eaters?" he whispered.

Hannah glanced at him, evidently confused. "Why does it even matter? What's the difference?"

"It will tell us who they are here for" he replied grimly.

They all remembered their last journey on the Hogwarts Express. The train had been stopped as Death Eaters began their search for Harry and Hermione. The Death Eaters had been joined shortly by Ministry officials who came around taking down everybody's name and blood-status. When they had finished, no fewer than 40 muggleborn students, all under the age of fourteen, were herded off to the side and stripped of their wands. The older muggleborns hadn't returned, but had gone into hiding or had gone on the run. A very small number of muggleborns had managed to fake family trees, and were still at school.

"If it's Ministry people, they're after muggleborns. If it's Death Eaters..." Neville said, trailing off at the end of his sentence

Luna, who was sitting nearest to the windows of the compartment, opened a window up and stuck her head out. She could see dozens of curious heads peeking out of their carriages, apprehensive looks on their faces. At farthest end of the train, she could see a hooded and masked figure talking to the conductor. She gasped and pulled her head back into the train.

"Death Eaters" she said, snapping out of her usual dreamy state. "About ten of them, but I couldn't tell who".

"They're coming here, aren't they" Ernie stated. He had been rather quiet since he endured one of the worst detentions with the Carrows a few days prior. His face was bruised and cut up, and one of his eyes was swollen shut, the purple bruise beginning to lighten to green. "Whom else would they be coming for?"

They all were at a loss to answer, but it did not matter. Down the train they could here doors slamming shut as the Dark Lord's servants made their way down the Express. They heard one of them ask in a gruff voice

"Who are we looking for again?"

A female voice answered sharply "Lovegood's daughter. The one who destroyed all of the prophecies, as I'm sure you remember, Nott".

Neville tensed up at the sound of her voice "Bellatrix" he murmured. He jumped to his feet and pulled out his wand, and the others followed suit. As the Death Eaters banged their way closer to the compartment, the D.A. members all stared nervously at the door, awaiting their arrival.

The compartment door flew open, revealing several masked as well as a few unmasked Death Eaters.

Bellatrix let out a cackle. "Oh how cute, they're trying to protect her!" she shrieked. She saw Neville and laughed even harder before casting her curse. His screams rang through the compartment as his body writhed and twitched in pure agony. She lifted her wand and he crumpled to the floor, barely moving. She turned smirking to the others, who each had a Death Eater's wand on them.

"DROP YOUR WANDS!" She screamed. When no one moved, screamed again, "DROP THEM! NOW!" her eyes lit up with an insane glee. She gestured at Neville with her wand before repeating the cry. "I SAID DROP THEM!"

There was a small rustle near the back of the carriage, and Luna stepped forward with her hands in the air in surrender. "No" she said, her voice uncharacteristically sharp. "You want me? I'm right here. Leave them alone".

Her face was pale, but determined. Bellatrix glared at her suspiciously, then grabbed her upper arm and tugged her towards the doorway.

"If you try anything, little girl, your father will die" she hissed.

Ginny sent a hex towards Bellatrix, but was deflected and promptly stunned by another Death Eater, and collapsed on the floor. They were overwhelmed, and Luna knew it.

"Don't!" she choked out. "Don't do anything stupid!"

"That's right, listen to her, you can't save her now." Bellatrix said, glaring around the compartment. "Avery, Nott, Mulciber, you three keep an eye on her little friends. Travers, go and find the others, we're leaving" She kicked Neville in the stomach, and said "Say hi to Mum and Dad for me". He stirred but didn't move off the floor.

She yanked Luna out the door and dragged her down the corridor. Luna's heart was pounding and she was terrified, but she knew better than to show it. She hoped her father could get away, but she knew if she were taken, she wouldn't survive it. She kicked out at Bellatrix, and felt the hand on her arm release in shock. Luna took off as fast as she could, not daring to look back. She veered towards a door on the side of the train, and collided with two Death Eaters standing in the doorway. They laughed cruelly, and pushed her back into the train.

A furious looking Bellatrix was walking towards her, wand out. Luna was trapped, surrounded on all sides by Death Eaters, two more of who had just appeared in the doorway on the other side of the train.

"Crucio" Bellatrix cried, and Luna, unable to defend herself, was hit with the curse.

It was the pain of burning alive, a thousand hot knives and acid all at once. It was unimaginable, her vision went red and she no longer knew where she was or why she was there. All she knew was pain, her world was only pain. She could hear her scream, but it was unattached from her consciousness, almost as if someone else was making the unearthly noise.

It stopped all at once, and she lay on the floor sobbing. She barely had a second to collect herself before Bellatrix pulled her off the ground.

She yanked Luna up by her hair before pinning her to the wall by her neck. Luna struggled to stand, weakly trying to push the woman away from her.

"If you try anything like that again, if you try to escape, not only will your father die, but all of your little friends back there will die a slow and painful death. How long do you think Longbottom will last? I'm betting not very long" Bellatrix spat, her once-beautiful face contorted with rage.

She let go of her throat, and Luna collapsed once more. She slowly pulled herself to her feet, and vaguely registered a commotion in the compartment that held her friends. A few shouts emitted from the compartment, followed by three loud 'bangs', and silence.

Luna watched fearfully as Avery, Nott and Mulciber, now unmasked, strode out of the compartment, and joined the group.

"They heard this one scream and tried to help her. They'll wake up soon enough" Avery grunted, leering at Luna with a yellow smile. He smelled of stale whiskey, and was unshaven.

Travers returned to the group along with another masked Death Eater.

"That's all of us, let's head back," He said.

Bellatrix grabbed Luna's arm in a viselike grip, gave her another threatening look and pivoted on the spot, apparating away with a loud crack.

Neville was the first one to regain consciousness, and awoke to a quiet compartment. His body ached all over, and as he surveyed the scene, he began to panic. He grappled for his wand and woke up the others, all of who had crumpled on the floor, with a simple 'ennervate'. As Ginny, Hannah and Ernie began to get up, he sprinted out to the corridor.

"LUNA! LUNA!" he shouted over and over again. He could hear Hannah sobbing quietly in the background as Ginny joined his side.

"She's gone," Ginny said, confirming his worst fears. "They've taken her"


	2. Arrival at Malfoy Manor

Arrival at Malfoy Manor

The pressure lifted from Luna's lungs and her feet felt solid ground once more as her surroundings came into focus. She felt like she had just been squeezed through a rubber tube that was far too small for her liking. Her stomach churned, and she felt her lunch threatening to come back up. She doubled over, and took a few steadying breaths before she was dragged forward by the hand gripping her upper arm tightly.

The dark clouds overhead swirled ominously, threatening a storm. They had clearly apparated somewhere in the North, as the ground was covered in a thick layer of snow. The driveway upon which they stood had been shoveled out, leaving only a compressed and slippery coating of white under their shoes. Behind them was not a road, as one might expect, but instead a thickly grown, dark forest. Only their outlines appeared in the gloom, adding to Luna's growing feeling of trepidation.

A wrought iron gate loomed ahead, its intricate designs firmly interlocking, blocking their path. The first few Death Eaters of the pack simply raised their left arms in a kind of salute and passed through the gate as if it were smoke. Bellatrix stopped abruptly, bringing her captive to a halt as well. She spoke as if speaking to the gate itself, or some invisible guard.

"I have the prisoner, Lovegood's daughter", she declared. A woman's voice echoed in response, disrupting the silence.

"Enter".

She then raised her left arm in the same sort of salute as the others, and marched Luna onwards. The eleven of them, with Bellatrix and Luna in the middle, walked quickly up the long driveway. Several of them glanced around fretfully at the tall hedges lining the dark path. A large manor emerged from the murkiness, its menacing stonewalls materializing out into the darkness. Lancet windows had been strategically placed to exude the feeling of utter grandeur. All of the windows were darkened except for one, through which the flickering light of a fire glowed.

Bellatrix stepped up to the door, pushing her way past the rest of the pack who had come to a standstill on the front stairs. She knocked three times, and, without waiting for an answer, pushed open the heavy mahogany door.

"Cissy, I'm home" she called. She spotted a quivering, bleary-eyed man pressed into the corner, as if he wished to disappear into the shadows. "Wormtail!" she barked. "Make yourself useful and take my cloak" she ordered haughtily,casting her cloak aside to the man, who scurried off to hang it up.

Luna, who had been slowly backing away from Bellatrix towards the door, turned and grabbed the door handle, trying for one last futile escape attempt. She managed to wrench the door a few inches open before a hand slammed it shut, and pulled her around, pinning her back against the door.

"I thought we said not to do that," the man hissed, his cruel black eyes peering out through his mask. When she did not respond, he slapped her across the face, leaving a red handprint across her cheek and blood on her lip, as well as reopening old wounds from the Carrows.

Bellatrix whirled around and yanked her forward by her wrist, dragging her unceremoniously into the house. She was dragged down a dark hallway into a large living room where two people sat in armchairs in front of a crackling fireplace.

"Bella, come and sit," the woman called, her platinum blonde hair pulled back into a sleek knot at the nape of her neck. She wore majestic navy blue robes, and had a face that would have been beautiful if not for the dark circles under her eyes and strain showing beneath her blue eyes. She motioned to an empty chair on her right.

Bellatrix pulled Luna towards the couple and threw her down at their feet before taking her place by the woman's side. The man's face was gaunt and unshaven, his long, blond, greasy hair hanging limply. He looked up and smiled cruelly.

"So this is our newest guest," he said glaring disdainfully down at her. She scrambled to her feet and backed away from him. "How rude of me, I haven't introduced myself yet. I am Lucius Malfoy, and this is my wife, Narcissa," he indicated the regal-looking woman by his side. He stood up and walked towards her. "Do you know why you are here?" he sneered.

Her silver-blue eyes met his cold grey ones, but she did not reply.

"Well? Do you know?" He insisted.

Her eyes flicked around the room as if looking for an escape. She looked like a frightened animal. She had narrowed down the reasons for her abduction down to two possibilities. She was either taken because of her father's writings, which was the likelier of the two scenarios, or because they believed her to have information on Harry Potter. After all, she had been in the Department of Mysteries that day, and who knows what the Carrows had been reporting. But if that was the case, Ginny, Seamus or Neville seemed likelier targets. They had all known him for longer, and Ginny was his ex-girlfriend as well as his best friend's little sister.

He stepped closer, so that they were nose to nose. His breath smelled of stale firewhisky. He looked like a different man since their last meeting in the Department of Mysteries. A nervous demeanor had replaced his previously haughty one, and his façade of cold disinterest had slipped away to reveal a broken interior.

She could not answer without potentially drawing their attention to facts she would rather they overlook, so she remained silent.

He turned abruptly and returned to his chair. He glared at her menacingly, and barked

"Answer me!"

"I don't know," she said, wincing as she backed farther away. Her leg still hurt from her fall on the train.

"Your fool of a father couldn't keep his mouth shut, so you're here to ensure his cooperation," he snarled. "He was printing lies-"

"My father never prints lies," she snapped. She had never spoken so sharply to anyone before, it just wasn't her style. Her airy demeanor had vanished, and she radiated anger. Her fear evaporated in the presence of her all-consuming fury. "He prints what people need to know. He is the only one brave enough to tell the truth!"

Her voice echoed in the darkened room. She was terrified by what she had just said, and to whom she had just said it. She realized just how alone she was; no one would protect her from these people.

Bellatrix was furious. She leapt to her feet and whipped out her wand. She moved forward like a lioness stalking its prey. Narcissa closed her eyes and turned her head slightly away, not wishing to see the scene unfolding before her.

"YOU! You filthy blood traitor! You DARE-" She shrieked. "Crucio!"

Luna screamed in agony as her body twitched and flailed on the ground. She wanted it to end; she would do anything just to get it to stop. She had not known such pain existed in the world. As abruptly as it had started, it finished.

Luna lay panting on the ground, sure she was about to die. Any strength she had left in her was gone. She wasn't even sure she could trust her knees to hold her weight.

"Now, now Bella," Lucius sneered. "We mustn't lose our temper. We're supposed to keep her alive, at least until the Dark Lord arrives."

She sat back down, scowling.

"Wormtail!" she shouted, and the small, watery-eyed man scampered in from the hall. "Take the girl down to the dungeons"

He moved forward while keeping a wary eye on Bellatrix's wand. He leaned down and seized Luna's arm, tugging her roughly off the ground. Her knees shook for a second and gave way as she collapsed once more to the floor. He kicked her in her stomach, and she curled up on herself, shaking.

"Wait" Lucius said, sitting up suddenly. "Did anyone take her wand?" He said abruptly, looking from Bellatrix to the group of Death Eaters who had begun to convene at the door. No one spoke. "Where is your wand, girl?" he said turning his attention back to her.

"I dropped it on the train" she whimpered, thinking fast. She was too weak to do anything but try and keep them from finding it.

"Did you, now?" he growled. "Wormtail, search her".

Wormtail leaned down and began patting her down. She pulled away from his touch, shuddering as he ran his hands along her legs. He stopped and pulled up the bottom of her pant leg to reveal her wand sticking out of her sock. She tried vainly to prevent him from taking it. She punched, kicked and tried to get the wand out of her sock, but she knew she had been caught. All her efforts earned her was a bloody nose. Wormtail took the wand and handed it to Lucius, who smiled maliciously and said,

"You won't be needing this any more". He snapped it cleanly in two, laughing cruelly at the horrified look on her face. Her last hope, her last chance for an escape had just been broken right before her eyes. She struggled to stand as the growing crowd of Death Eaters in the fringes of the room jeered and taunted her.

When she had finally gotten to her feet, Wormtail grabbed her hands and forced them behind her back, pulled out a rope and roughly tied them together. She didn't have an ounce of strength left in her to fight him, it was all she could do to try and keep him from tying the bonds to tightly. She had lost, and she knew it. They'd had her cornered from the very beginning.

She had known on the train that there were too many of them to try to fight off. She couldn't let her friends get hurt because of her, so she had hidden her wand away in the hope that it would provide her an opportunity for escape. Her plan had failed, and she was going to die because of her failure. As Wormtail led her down the hallway, her heart sunk with defeat.

They turned a corner and descended down a damp set of stone steps. When they reached the bottom, Wormtail pulled out a set of keys and unlocked the heavy metal door. He opened it and pushed her inside, shutting the door behind her with a resounding clang.

She heard his footsteps echoing away, and she took in her surroundings, or rather tried to. The dungeon was pitch black and icy cold. She shivered and backed towards a wall, and began to cry.

Her father was expecting her home today, but she wasn't going to ever arrive. She wanted to see him again and to finally be somewhere she felt safe. She was sick of running; she was tired of being afraid.

At school she had never fit in, but that had never bothered her. She was always the weird girl who believed in crumple-horned snorkacks and nargles. School had still been the place where she had learned magic, and even if many students didn't like her, she loved to be there. The only person who was ever really nice to her was Ginny, who she had befriended on the first day of school. She had felt right at home when she had joined the D.A., and made some friends like Neville and Harry, Hermione and Ron. This year, however, Hogwarts was different.

She and her friends had fought back against the Carrows and their hateful ideologies. They had tried to take the school back from the Death Eaters. They tried to help Harry by getting the sword. Now it felt like they had just failed at everything they had tried. Everything that had made Hogwarts the place she loved had been replaced by fear and pain. Hopelessness had begun seeping its way into her heart when she heard a moan from the other side of the dungeon that shook her out of her self-pitying stupor.

"Hello?" she whispered. "Who's there?"

Silence greeted her, until several minutes later she heard another groan, louder this time. She started to move towards the sound, wishing she could use her hands to feel along the walls. As she progressed into the velvety darkness, she shivered in mixture of fear and chill.

Her body still ached all over from the Cruciatus Curse Bellatrix had used on her, and her leg throbbed painfully where it had made contact with the train's floor. The days old cuts on her face and body stung, as many had been re-opened in the preceding hours. Her stomach cramped where she had been kicked twice, and her face was still covered in her own blood, warm and wet. She was in terrible shape overall, and she didn't know what help she could possibly be to whoever was down here, but she had to try something, or at least find out who they were.

Her food bumped into something soft on the ground, and as she struggled to keep her already nefarious balance, she heard a soft groan.

"Who are you?" She breathed. There was no response, so she sat down and let her back rest against the cold stone wall. Exhaustion took over her drained body, and she felt her eyelids grow heavy. She fell into a disturbed and fretful sleep where she was haunted by visions of her tormentors, laughing and jeering while she screamed for an end that would not come.


	3. A Missing Friend

A Missing Friend

The remainder of the train ride was quiet. None of them wanted to discuss what had just happened, though they all knew they would soon find the reality of their situation ineluctable.

Neville sat in the gently swaying compartment with his head in his hands. He had failed Luna when she needed him most. He kept replaying the events of the last few hours in his head; at least the parts he could remember. He remembered Bellatrix's voice in the corridor and the anger hearing her speak caused him. He wanted to kill her, he wanted vengeance, but when she had walked into the compartment with several other Death Eaters, he had frozen. He had not been scared for himself; rather he had been terrified what would happen to his friends.

He didn't have any time to react before she cast her curse, and in such a cramped area, he didn't have any room to dodge the spell. After that, all he could remember was pain, never-ending agony. His bones were on fire, his body was burning, his head was splitting open. She had cast this curse on him before, but this was pain unlike any he had ever felt. There was a burning hatred fueling the curse that hadn't been there two years previously. This wasn't just spite anymore, this was fury at his defiance.

Once she had finished, he couldn't move off the floor. He had faded in and out of consciousness, waking up only to feel the kick she had aimed at him, and hear the taunt about his incapacitated parents. After that, he only had vague recollections of the incident. He remembered Ginny trying to attack Bellatrix, and being stunned in retaliation. He had heard her slump to the floor, unconscious.

Everything else blurred together. Some of the Death Eaters leaving with Luna, a few remained in the carriage. A girl had screamed in agony, screams followed by heart-wrenching sobs. There was a small commotion in the carriage, followed by a few more thumps indicating that the rest of his friends had been knocked out.

He couldn't remember anything after that. He suspected that the Death Eaters, for good measure, had also stunned him. Tears spilled out of his eyes, hot and wet. He quickly wiped them away and looked up at his classmates.

"Where have they taken her?" he asked hollowly. No one replied, and he was left with a deeper feeling of hopelessness than before. An odd pained expression stole across Ginny's face momentarily before her expression settled back into a mask. She knew something that she wasn't sharing with them. He suspected it was top-secret Order stuff that she really had no business knowing, and she could not share. He had heard a few things from her about the Order, but nothing major. She couldn't tell either him or Luna what she knew, and they never pressed her on the topic.

"They took her because of her father's magazine," Ernie said, his brown eyes searching the compartment as if hoping someone to contradict his assertion. "Which means they should keep her a-alive, right?" he stammered. None of them would say what they were all thinking- what if she doesn't come back?

No one spoke for a while after that. They all sat immersed in their sadness, feeling overwhelmed by the suddenness of it all. Luna had been right there with them not two hours earlier.

The snow swirled outside the train as they streaked towards London. When they were nearing the station, Ginny spoke.

"Do you think Mr. Lovegood already knows? Bellatrix threatened to kill him if Luna ran, does that mean they were there, or will he be waiting for her to come home?"

They exchanged glances nervously. No one wanted to have to tell him that his daughter would not be coming home this Christmas.

The train pulled to a stop, and the usual bustle of students commenced. The difference was that this time, there was no laughter. The entire school was subdued as they lugged their trunks off the train and onto the platform. The younger kids were pale and terrified. They clearly knew what had happened on the train, and it horrified them. Neville heard a chubby blonde first year boy whisper to another as they passed the compartment:

"I heard she was dead when they took her off the train". Neville cringed at these words. He knew they had no reliable information, but it didn't stop him from shuddering at the possibility that she might already be dead. The girl who meant everything to him could not be dead. He couldn't allow himself to think that way.

Neville, Hannah, Ernie and Ginny were the last ones off the train. They dreaded the idea of telling her father what had happened. They gathered their trunks, and joined the shrinking queue at the barrier. When they had finally made it through the barrier, most of the waiting parents had already left, eager to get their children home quickly. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Neville's grandmother, Hannah's father, Ernie's parents and Mr. Lovegood all stood tightly grouped together. Bill Weasley was also waiting with his parents, and had his wand dangling in his hand by his side as his eyes nervously flitted around the station. They looked up in unison when the group walked through the barrier, the parents seeking out their children from the group. As the parents rushed to greet their children, concern filled their eyes at the sight of the cut and bruised state of the students' faces.

Mr. Lovegood, who had also rushed over to see his daughter turned to Neville upon realizing she was missing and asked frantically,

"Where's my daughter? Where's my Luna?" His voice rose an octave in panic as he spoke.

Neville was speechless. He had no idea how to reply to the man. His mouth was dry as he struggled to find words.

"Mr. Lovegood…" he began miserably. He couldn't look him in the eye. Guilt welled up inside of him as his eyes filled with tears. Ginny, who had broken away from her parents, came to his rescue.

"They- they took her off of the train," she said quietly. "We tried to stop them, we really did, but there were too many of them," she finished off helplessly. Luna was her best friend, and Neville knew that it must be killing Ginny to not be able to help her.

Mr. Lovegood's expression morphed from one of outright panic to one of fear and anger.

"Who was it?" he asked angrily. "WHO TOOK MY DAUGHTER?" he shouted.

"Death Eaters," Ginny whispered, tears falling freely from her eyes.

"How many?" he pressed on.

"I- I don't know, a few. They stunned me, I don't remember. I'm so sorry Mr. Lovegood," she sobbed. Ginny rarely cried, but she couldn't hold back the tears any longer.

"Ten" Neville interjected hollowly. "Luna managed to count them all before they came on the train." He forced himself to look in the man's horrified eyes. He didn't tell him about the screams, her screams, in the corridor. The poor man didn't need to know that.

There was a long silence followed by Bill putting his hand on his sister's shoulder protectively, saying in a firm but kind manner,

"We all need to get out of here, it isn't safe. We are drawing far too much attention to ourselves."

Mr. Lovegood nodded silently, a look of terrified agony on his face. The group began to walk towards the parking lot. Neville moved to the back of the group where Hannah and Ernie were walking in silence.

"She'll be all right," he said, more to himself than to anyone else. They walked in silence for a few minutes before Hannah came to a sudden halt.

"Seamus doesn't know," she said in an almost alarmed tone of voice. Seamus had been forced to say at school over Christmas due to his parent's having to flee the country. While his mother was a pure-blooded witch, Seamus's father was a muggle. Mrs. Finnegan had been followed around by Death Eaters or Ministry officials wherever she went, as had her husband. After a very close call in October, they had been forced to flee the country.

Seamus hadn't even gotten a letter explaining the situation, for fear it would endanger him while he was at school. Professor McGonagall had informed him of his parent's predicament, but had been able to assure him that his parents had reached safety somewhere in South America.

Neville had invited his friend to stay for the holidays, but had been rebuffed by the Carrows. They Death Eaters had put a new rule into effect that now permitted students to be removed from school for holidays by their parents or guardians only. They thought that if Seamus left the castle for break, he would not return to school but rather join his parents in hiding, or join Dean on the run. They were probably right that he would not come back, but Neville believed that he would have probably tried to find Dean first. The new rule made Seamus, in effect, a prisoner in the school. The Carrows most likely wanted him as some sort of leverage over his parents, to prevent them from taking up arms against Voldemort.

Seamus was the only student left in the castle. This year, all the parents wanted their children home and as far from the school as possible. Neville suspected that many of them would not be returning after the holidays, but would flee the country instead. This was dangerous, as snatchers were everywhere, and constantly on the prowl for muggle-borns and truants.

This was no more dangerous than staying in school for many of them, however, because of the Carrows and Snape. Detentions were handed out frequently, and consisted of Slytherins and the Carrows themselves performing the Cruciatus and other illegal, painful curses on them. The members of the D.A. were the ones most often targeted for punishments, as they were the ones who had been resisting the most, and were suffering greatly for it.

Neville was worried about how his friend would react to the news. When Dean had been forced to go on the run earlier that year, Seamus had not had an easy time dealing with the loss of his best friend. He had become angry and self-destructive, lashing out at the Carrows and Snape. All that this accomplished was Seamus's landing himself in detention more times than anyone else in the school.

With Harry, Ron and Dean all gone, he and Seamus were the only ones left in their dorm. Since the Carrows had banned them from going to the hospital wing after detentions, it often fell to Neville to heal Seamus's numerous injuries, and vice versa.

"We definitely shouldn't tell him when he's alone with the Carrows and Snape," he said with a pained look on his face. He hated keeping his friend in the dark, but he was worried about him enough as it was.

They all reluctantly nodded in agreement. Besides, sending an owl might be too risky anyways. They avoided putting anything in writing these days, if they could. Even the most innocuous- seeming tidbits could become a weapon in the wrong hands. Every code is breakable.

They proceeded into the parking lot where snow was coming down fast in thick clumps. The group came to a stop at the road, wishing each other a safe Christmas. No one wished a happy Christmas. Those wishes were for safer days that had long passed. Neville went to say good- bye to Ginny, who looked as guilty as he felt. She gave him a hug, and her composure broke. She began sobbing into his shoulder as he tried to comfort her.

"It wasn't your fault Ginny. If anything, it was mine," he whispered into her hair. Xenophilius Lovegood stood nearby watching their exchange with a look of utter hopelessness on his face. He said a few brief good- byes before pivoting on the spot and vanishing with a 'crack'.

Neville said his good- byes to everyone and promised to try and visit Ginny over the holiday before he moved towards his Grandmother's side. He wanted to be there for Ginny this Christmas. Ginny's friends and family kept disappearing or going on the run, and she was hurting even though she rarely showed it.

Mrs. Longbottom was a very stern- looking, elderly witch with iron- grey hair topped off by her customary stuffed- vulture hat. Her normally sever expression had vanished, and had been replaced by a profound sorrow Neville had only seen her wear after Dumbledore had died. Her eyes were tinged red when he finally greeted her, but there was a look of steely pride in her eyes when she looked at her grandson.

"Hello Gran," he said glumly.

She nodded and gave him a small smile, then took his hand and turned on the spot, disapparating home. After a brief moment of suffocation they appeared in front of their house. The walked I silence towards the house, Neville dragging his trunk behind him as he dreaded having to answer the questions she was sure to ask. Once they had reached the inside of the house and had closed the door, she spoke.

"What happened to you? What happened on the train?" she questioned him, a sharp note of panic in her voice.

"The Carrows happened," he said darkly. "I'm not going to just stand by and watch while everything goes to hell. I did everything I could, and this is what they do to anyone who defies them," he said, gesturing at his cut and bruised face. He rushed his words together; he wanted to get it out as quickly as possible. "About ten Death Eaters were on the train and began searching for Luna, though we didn't know it was her they wanted, at least not at first. I heard Bellatrix Lestrange's voice in the corridors. They came into the carriage. There were too many and I don't remember much after that. We couldn't stop them," he finished off in a rush, his voice breaking on the last word. She nodded in understanding.

"It's not your fault, Neville," she said, pulling him into a comforting hug. He closed his eyes and let the tears spill out.

Reviews are appreciated!


	4. In the Dark

In the Dark

**This all belongs to JKR, obviously. All information on wand lore comes from Pottermore, spoilers if you haven't read HBP, but I'm assuming you have, and if you haven't, don't read this. I honestly can't fathom why you would go to fanfiction before the actual books, but…**

Luna awoke suddenly with a start. The door had creaked open, and a pale blonde boy was standing in the doorway. He held in one hand a tray with bread and water and a lit wand in the other, casting white light onto his pallid skin. Luna recognized the boy as Draco Malfoy, a boy in the year above her. He didn't notice her at first, rather making a beeline towards the only other person in the dungeon.

The other prisoner, who she ha heard the night before, was huddled against the wall, barely alive. He was an old, frail- looking man whose wild white hair had grown into a long and tangled mess. His paper- like sin was pale, and his eyelids fluttered weakly as he tried to push himself up.

Malfoy set the tray down by his side and knelt down next to him.

"You need to eat, Mr. Ollivander," he said with a slight tone of sorrow in his voice "Please." Malfoy wiped his eyes quickly and tore off a piece of bread, placing it in Ollivander's hand. This act of compassion surprised Luna. She had always thought him to be cruel and unsympathetic, but she didn't really know him that well at all.

He looked up then, noticing her for the first time. His face was shocked, and he paled at the sight of her.

"Lovegood?" he asked, a horrified expression briefly passing over his face. He had been at school this year, but he Luna had noticed that he had been unusually quiet.

She didn't respond, but continued to stare at him.

"I don't have any food for you, they just gave me food for Mr. Ollivander," he said quietly.

She got up and moved across the room towards Mr. Ollivander and Malfoy. She knelt down next to him and watched as Malfoy made sure Ollivander ate. Ollivander shakily ate the piece of bread. His body was waifish and he looked weak. He didn't look as if he could survive for much longer.

Luna's heart ached for the poor man. He had been kidnapped well over a year ago, and who knew what horrors he had faced during his imprisonment.

"Draco!" a woman's voice echoed through the house above them. "Your presence is required!"

Draco looked up and dropped the piece of bread he was holding back onto the plate. His eyes widened, his face full of fear.

"Don't tell- I wasn't here-" he spluttered, scrambling to his feet. Luna nodded, wondering what, or rather who, terrified him that way. She hoped against hope that it was not who she thought it was.

He dashed up the stairs, slamming the door shut behind him as he went. The basement was once again submerged in darkness so thick it felt suffocating.

"Luna… Lovegood… Ebony, Unicorn hair, 12 and a quarter inches, swishy" a hoarse voice said, breaking the silence.

Luna looked up, startled, at the place where Mr. Ollivander sat in the darkness.

"You remember?" she asked. This was the first time Mr. Ollivander had spoken to her since her arrival the day before.

"I remember every wand I ever sold, Miss Lovegood," he said, his voice gaining in strength with every word. The few pieces of bread seemed to have done wonders for him. "Of course, I haven't sold any wands in quite some time," he added bitterly.

"We will get out of here," Luna replied firmly.

"You think so?" he asked dryly. "I've been here for over a year, and I haven't gotten out yet." His voice was emotionless and hollow. Luna could tell he was close to giving up.

"We will. I promise, we will," she doubted it herself, but she wouldn't let him know that. "But first could you untie my hands for me?"

"Of course"

She moved closer to him so he could reach her hands, bound behind her back. After a few minutes of fumbling around in the dark, the ropes came off.

"Thank you," she said gratefully, rubbing her wrists where the ropes had cut into them.

"Not at all, my dear"

Her stomach growled, and Mr. Ollivander offered her some of the bread, but she refused. She couldn't take his food when he clearly needed it so badly.

They sat in silence for a while after that, leaving Luna alone with her thoughts. Despite her insistence to Ollivander, she did not truly think she would escape this alive. She believed in so many things, things others thought impossible, but she was not naïve. She knew what happened to people at the hands of the Death Eaters. Their bodies were found in mangled messes, or not at all.

A scream broke the silence and echoed through the house above, followed by derisive laughter. Luna gasped in shock, but Ollivander did not seem surprised.

"That won't be the last time that happens," Ollivander muttered darkly. "You will hear that whenever he is angry".

"When who is angry?" Luna asked slowly, although she already knew the answer.

"The Dark Lord" he replied in a whisper, as if he feared being overheard through the ceiling.

"He- he's here? Now?" Luna gasped. She had never met him, thankfully, because if she had, she probably would have already been dead.

"This is his headquarters. He comes down here every once in a while," Ollivander said bitterly.

Luna shuddered, a shiver of fear going through her body. She hoped that the brief attempts at learning Occlumency that she, Neville and Ginny had made would be enough to hide some things. She knew she wouldn't be able to block any direct assaults on her mind for any longer than a few minutes. She could only hope that she could hold out just long enough to protect her friends.

Hours and hours later, when as far as Luna could tell, a day had passed, the door once again opened. Luna had steeled herself for an interrogation session when Wormtail walked in. He held in one hand a chunk of cheese and two loaves of bread, and a lit wand in the other hand. The hand holding the wand was silver, and looked like a shimmering glove as it reflected the wandlight. He shuffled over towards the two prisoners, and tossed the bread and cheese at Luna, who had gotten to her feet. Luna shielded her eyes from the bright light that aggravated her already pounding headache.

Wormtail motioned her over towards himself. She hesitated and glanced back at Ollivander, who was trying to push himself to his feet.

"Do you want to go to the bathroom or not?" Wormtail snapped irritably. Luna followed him out the door and up the stone staircase. He stopped abruptly at the top of the stairs, and held his wand in front of her face threateningly.

"If you try anything, anything at all, I _will_ kill you," he hissed. "You will die slowly and painfully."

She doubted he would actually kill her, but did not hesitate for a second to believe that he would at the very least hurt her for trying. An escape plan had to be well thought out, anyways, and she did not know her surroundings well enough to attempt it just yet.

Her legs were shaking underneath her with the effort it took to stand. She hadn't had any food since the train, which was almost two days earlier. She was still in a great deal of pain from the numerous injuries she had sustained on the night of her arrival, and she felt nauseous from lack of food. An escape attempt now would be futile, and almost certainly lead to her immediate execution.

Wormtail led her around a corner to a small closet-like bathroom. It had a toilet, a sink and a cracked mirror inside. Its simple design stood out in the extravagant manor.

Luna went in and shut the door behind her, used the facilities, and then turned to face her reflection. She kept herself steady by holding on to the sink with both hands, and noticed for the first time the angry red marks on her wrists where the ropes had cut into them.

The gashes on her face from the Carrows stood out crimson against her ashen- grey face. They had begun to bleed again when she had been kidnapped, so her face was covered in dried blood. She had a yellowing bruise on her left eye, and her lip was swollen and cut. Her dirty blonde hair was greasy and tangled, and her cheeks were hollow and gaunt.

She splashed cold water on her face, and tried to wash away some of the blood around her stinging cuts. Rather than cleaning away the dried blood, she ended up re-opening her wounds, making them bleed more. She was trying to stench the bleeding a bi when a loud rapping came at the door.

"Hurry up in there!" Wormtail squeaked, pounding on the door.

Luna gave a start and shut off the faucet quickly. She opened to door to a wand pointed at her face once again. As Wormtail led her back to the basement, Luna tried to map out in her head as much of the house as she could before she was shunted back down the stairs.

She knew that the top of the stairs was a long ways from the front door, and that she would have to pass through the main room to reach the door. She also knew that she would only have one chance to escape, and she couldn't mess it up. If she were to be caught she would certainly be murdered. For now, there were too many variables. For one, she had no way of knowing if Voldemort was still in the house. If he were there when she tried to run, she wouldn't stand a chance. She didn't know where the closest town is, and getting lost in the woods in the winter would mean as certain of a death as staying would mean. She didn't even know what day it was!

"What day is it today?" she asked in what she hoped was a dreamy voice. She needed him to underestimate her, to think her stupid.

"December 22nd" he replied before slamming the door, once again sealing her into the darkness.

Luna spent the next couple of hours eating and chatting with Mr. Ollivander. They covered topics ranging from Luna's favorite lessons in school to basic wandlore to the premier Quid ditch league, which wasn't doing so well as players kept disappearing or going on the run. Luna got the feeling that Mr. Ollivander just needed someone to talk with. He had been locked up in this horrible place for over a year, and Luna tried to comfort him the best she could. Luna gave him news from the outside world, none of it good. The only good news was that there was no news- at least none of the news was regarding Harry Potter. This at least meant that he was alive. If he had been killed, Luna had absolutely no doubt in her mind that his death would be widely broadcast across the country. His death would crush the morale or any resistance.

"What about my son?" Ollivander asked suddenly. Luna knew he had been waiting to ask this question since she arrived, but he was dreading the answer. "Is he ali- is he alright?"

"I don't know," she said quietly. "Last I heard he left the country, but that was months ago." She wished she had more to say, but no one had mentioned the youngest of the Ollivander's since he left; there was so much going on at the time.

"I lost my daughter in the first war- I can't lose my son," his voice coming out in a croak as he tried to hold back tears. "What's been happening in the war?" He asked, trying to distract himself from the possibility that his only son could be dead.

Luna sighed. They hadn't gotten to this topic yet, and she had been dreading having to tell him the news. They were in a much worse position than when he had been taken, and he already seemed so close to giving up. What if he lost the will to live?

"Mr. Ollivander- a lot has happened since you were taken," she said gently. "It's not good news."

"Please just tell me," he said bracingly.

"Dumbledore… Snape…" she trailed off, not knowing how to tell someone the worst of the news. "Snape killed him," she spat bitterly.

"He what?" Ollivander asked weakly. "Dumbledore? Dead?"

"Y-yes"

"Then we are lost. There is no hope."

"There's always hope. We've kept on fighting, you need to keep on fighting!" her voice going up an octave in panic. He couldn't give up and die. She wouldn't let him. She didn't know if she was strong enough to survive alone.

Footsteps pounded heavily on the ceiling above them, and they fell silent. Luna tensed up apprehensively as she had every time she heard a resident of the house above them. She knew better than to let her guard down. The noise faded away, but they remained silent for a few minutes after, dread flooding their hearts.

"What else has happened in the war?" Ollivander said quietly.

"The Ministry fell to- to _him_. They've been rounding up muggleborns, sometimes sending them to Azkaban, sometimes just taking their wands, and sometimes…" She said, her voice trailing off. The last bit was just a rumor, but that was how they got real news on the war these days. Only rumors and whispers spoke the truth. And her father's magazine, of course. Occasionally she would get invaluable access to Potterwatch- but she wasn't yet willing to tell Ollivander that. That was the kind of information that could get people killed. She remembered the first time she heard the station, and the hope that things may get better eventually.

_It was the second of September, and Neville, Luna, Ginny and Seamus all sat in the Gryffindor 7__th__ year boys' dormitory huddled around a small radio. Ginny had snuck Luna into the tower because, for now, this was the safest place for them to meet._

"_We just need to keep turning the dial and tapping the antenna with our wands. George said the password for today was going to be 'Resistance'," Ginny said, her face flickering eerily from the couple of candles Seamus had lit. She muttered "resistance" over and over while tapping out different patterns on the antenna. After about fifteen minutes, the radio blared voices into the tense dorm._

"_Turn it down!" Neville said as Ginny hastily lowered the volume._

"_Welcome, welcome listeners of our September second broadcast of Potterwatch!" A familiar voice crackled out of the small box. "We pledge to give you any and all news we can, because Godric knows the Prophet isn't doing that. For our new listeners, my name is River."_

"_That's Lee! Lee Jordan!"_

"_We know, Seamus. Now shut it," Neville said irritably._

"_We come to you live, from a location we don't particularly feel like disclosing. Two of our usual correspondents have joined us this fine evening. Hello boys."_

"_Hello" two voices said in reply._

"_Before Romulus and Royal give us their invaluable input, we would regret to inform our listeners of the murders of Reginald and Mary Cattermole. Their children, Alfred, Ellie and Maisie Cattermole, found their bodies early this morning near their Yorkshire home. The whereabouts of their three young children is yet unknown, and we urge any listeners with information to please contact John Cattermole, the brother of the deceased. Their family is frantic with worry."_

_Luna breathed in sharply and the heads in the room all turned curiously towards her. Her vague, airy expression was gone and her silver eyes widened in fear and pain._

"_The Cattermole's are old family friends. Maisie is such a sweet little girl," was all she could say before a tear that had been pooling in her eye leaked out down her cheek._

"_There has also been a rash of suspicious murders in Surrey. At least five muggle families have been found dead within the past two weeks, all of who lived within a four- block radius of Harry Potter's home. There is no doubt Death Eaters are behind the attacks, and we urge our listeners to go out of their way to protect their muggle neighbors. Even a simple protective charm can save a life. In troubled times like this, we all need to look out for each other" Lee said, sounding unusually grim._

"_Now to you, Romulus"_

"_Thank you River. I would like to take some time to remind our listeners of the importance of taking the necessary precautions in these troubled times. No one should leave his or her house alone, nor should anyone be left home alone," said a hoarse and tired voice that Luna recalled hearing somewhere, but she couldn't place exactly where she had heard the voice. She looked at Ginny, whose pale face showed signs of recognition, but upon catching her friend's gaze, shook her head. It was safer not to know._

"_If you have any reason to believe you or your family could be in danger from the Death Eaters, it may be wise to go into hiding. It is not cowardly to protect yourselves from forces that are out to get you. Safety is of utmost importance, especially these days. On to you, Royal."_

"_We have breaking news from the Ministry. Earlier today Harry Potter was sighted, along with two unidentified accomplices, rescuing muggleborns from the clutches of the Ministry itself," A deep and reassuring voice said._

_They let out a collective gasp, and all stared at the radio as if just noticing it was there._

"_Under the Polyjuice-induced guise of ministry employees Albert Runcorn, Reginald Cattermole and Mafalda Hopkirk, the trio managed to infiltrate the Ministry. Once there, they made their way to the courtrooms and rescued several muggleborns who had been brought in on falsified charges. While most of the muggleborns escaped, the Cattermole's were caught and murdered. Wherever you are Harry, we wish you good luck."_

_A static silence greeted these words, and it seemed as if 'Royal' had managed the impossible and had rendered Lee Jordan speechless._

"_That's all we have time for tonight folks, but join us this Friday at 21:30, password'll be 'Albus'. Good night, stay safe, and support Harry Potter." _

_With that, the radio went silent, projecting its quiet crackles into the stunned silence of the dormitory. They were each trying to wrestle with the enormity of the news they had just heard. Clearly even Lee hadn't heard of the happenings, and they could scarcely comprehend what it meant. It meant that Harry was alive, that he was still fighting. It meant that Ron and Hermione were fighting right along with him. It meant that a few more people were free from the ironclad grips of the totalitarian government. But to Luna, it meant the deaths of her mother's best friend, and Luna's godmother. It meant that little Ellie was who-know-where, and Alfred had lost a mother. It meant that no one would plait Maisie's curly and unruly hair every morning. It meant that the three small children were at the mercy of their captors or the elements. Her eyes filled with tears making the dormitory swim before her._

_A window burst outwards into the darkness, and as cold wind howled into the warm room, shocked faces looked at Luna. She was shaking with anger. She had not lost control like that since after her mother died, when she was no older than Maisie._

"_Luna?" Ginny asked hesitantly. "Are you- are you alright?"_

_Luna didn't respond, but continued to stare at her clenched fists. Seamus and Neville were shocked; Luna always seemed so unfazed by everything around her. _

_ "Where are they? Are they safe? Are they even alive?" Luna's voice broke on the last word and she closed her eyes, tears leaking out the corners in streams. Luna was never one to cry, never one to show so much emotion. _

_ "Luna I…" but Ginny didn't finish her sentence. There was nothing she could say to make it better, so she just pulled Luna into a tight embrace._

_ Just then the door opened revealing an irritated Professor McGonagall. _

_ "I was told there were students not belonging to Gryffindor in the dormitories," she said, her eyes sweeping around the room. "Apparently I was misinformed. Everyone seems to be where he or she is supposed to be. Good night," and with that, she turned sharply and left the room in confused silence. _

_ "I should go" Luna said, standing and wiping her eyes. "It's not worth getting caught."_

_ Ginny stood up and followed her friend out to the empty common room. _

_ "I'm sorry Luna, I know they meant a lot to you." Luna gave a small smile before turning to go back to the Ravenclaw common room. It would be the first time she had cried herself to sleep since her mother's death._

Luna sighed, staring ahead into the smothering darkness. The darkness would drive her mad if she let it. Colorful shapes danced in her vision, taunting her. She squeezed her eyes shut, but they followed her, as if trying to cement the idea that this basement would be where she would die. She would waste away until she was nothing. No one would notice, and one day she would just drift into the darkness.

"No" she murmured. She would not let that happen. She would find a way out- she would escape.

**Please review, good reviews, bad reviews, critical reviews. :) **


	5. Christmas

_*I'm just borrowing Jo's stuff! Please review, no flames._

_"Where is Potter?" shrieked a masked woman in black robes as she towered over the sobbing form of young girl. "Crucio!"_

_ The girl screamed, her back arching as she writhed on the floor in agony. Her hair fanned out around her head as she thrashed on the dark marble. Her wails tore through the air as she tried to pull herself away from her cackling assailant._

_ "I don't know! I don't know! Please!" she pleaded, tears pouring down her face._

_ "Then you are worthless. Avada kedavra!"_

_ The room was filled with a flash of bright green light as the girl's screams came to an abrupt stop._

Neville sat bolt upright in bed panting, the sheets soaked from sweat. Sunlight was streaming into his room, and the snow had accumulated idyllically in soft white clumps on the tree branches outside the window. It was a perfect winter day; the kind that he knew Luna loved so much. He shivered. That dream had been too real.

He rubbed the tears out of his eyes as he tried to convince himself that it was only a dream. _You don't know what happened to her! She could be fine!_ He couldn't allow himself to think that she was already dead. That would help no one.

The woman in the dream- she was masked but Neville knew who she was. She was the one who had haunted his nightmares for sixteen years. He knew her cruel laughter anywhere.

He pushed himself slowly out of bed, and made his way down to the kitchen. Gran was already there frying up bacon and eggs.

"Morning Gran"

"Good morning dear," she said, glancing at him in concern. "Breakfast is on the table."  
"Thanks Gran"

He sat down and quickly ate breakfast before standing up and retrieving his coat.

"I'm heading out, I'll be back soon," he called, before he stepped out into the fresh snow.

He lived in Shrewsbury with his Gran, and he knew the streets of the city like the back of his hand. He began walking down the small, cheerful streets lined with Tudor-style houses and shops. He didn't have any sort of destination in mind; he just wanted to move, to get out of that house. The quaint streets were relatively quiet this early in the morning, and Neville felt exposed and alone out in public like this. There were too few people around to give him any sort of safety guarantee, so he decided to get off the streets.

Pulling open the door on a local café he liked to visit during holidays, he encountered a rather pleasant surprise. Hannah Abbott was sitting at the counter, slowly stirring a cappuccino with a glum expression on her face. Her hair was braided in two long, blonde braids, and she had a black and yellow striped Hufflepuff scarf draped around her neck, though this was the only piece of clothing that did not fit into the thoroughly muggle setting.

"Hannah!" He called out in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

She started at the words and looked up, her eyes wide and fearful and her hand jumping to her coat pocket, which undoubtedly held her wand stored away, just out of sight.

"Oh, Neville, it's just you," she said, relaxing but not removing her hand from her pocket "Come, sit." She beckoned him over to the stool next to him.

"Are you ok Hannah?" He asked cautiously, taking a good look at her for the first time. Her eyes had dark circles underneath them and her face was pale as if she hadn't slept in days.

"Before I answer that, what was the first spell we learned in the D.A.?" said Hannah, her eyes flitting between Neville's eyes suspiciously.

"Expelliarmus. Hannah I don't understand what that's got to do with-"

"I had to check. I don't put much faith in coincidences these days." She said as she released her grip on her wand and resumed her melancholy stirring of the coffee.

It wasn't really too big of a coincidence that they would meet here. They both grew up in Shrewsbury, after all, and they had been playmates when they were young. Neville didn't know Hannah that well, and besides the D.A., they had hardly any contact outside of classes once they started Hogwarts.

Neville nodded. "Better safe than sorry, especially nowadays. Excuse me, could I have a cappuccino as well?" he said to the barista who had been looking at him expectantly. She nodded and went off to make his drink and Neville turned back to Hannah. "How are you doing with, you know…" he trailed off lamely.

"I'm- I'm ok I guess…" but when Neville gave her a skeptical look, she continued. "Well, no I'm not. I'm worried about her, Neville. We don't know where she is, we don't know who has her and we don't even know if she's still alive!" Neville winced at the last comment, but Hannah didn't notice.

"They're going to keep her alive, at least for a while. There's no point in a dead hostage," said Neville in a deadpan voice. He was trying to convince himself as much as her. Luna had been missing for three days now and none of them knew anything except that she was taken to control her father. Neville closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose to try and ward off the migraines he had been plagued with since the train.

"But what if they think she knows where he is?" Hannah said. She didn't need to say the name for Neville to know what she meant by 'he'. There was only one person the Death Eaters wanted that badly. The Death Eaters knew she had been in the Department of Mysteries that day, but they couldn't think Harry had told her where he was. No, they wouldn't. If they thought she knew anything… Neville shuddered at the thought, remembering the images that were haunting his dreams. Luna tortured, Luna begging for mercy, Luna dead on the floor.

"We shouldn't be talking about that here," He said looking around the café suspiciously. Hannah nodded and they sat in silence for a few minutes, quietly sipping their coffee.

Hannah had left school after her mother died the November before last, and hadn't returned until the mandate required her presence at the start of this year. Something about her had changed in her absence. She no longer flitted about the castle in joyful naïveté. Neville wasn't even sure when he had last heard her giggling with friends around the castle. She had lost the innocent gleam in her eyes that had defined her for so long, as had so many others. She had returned a much more hardened and determined person. She had been forced to grow up quickly; they had all been forced to grow up quickly.

"Neville, how much sleep have you been getting? You look exhausted."

"A- a bit," he said evasively, taking sudden interest in his coffee. He tried to push the image of Luna dead on the floor out of his mind. She gave him an accusatory look, and his eyes began to prickle with tears.

"I know that I'm not sleeping, so I can't imagine you are either. I keep hearing her screaming on the train…" she trailed off, lost in thought.

He met her concerned eyes but looked away quickly. He couldn't bring himself to tell her just how much the encounter with Bellatrix had shaken him. His mind was buzzing with all the burdens he so wanted to share with her. He wanted to ask her how he and Ginny could keep the D.A. up and running, how he was going to tell Seamus, how he would deal with Seamus once he had told him. He wanted to ask her how he could keep some semblance of composure when he eventually faced the smug and arrogant Carrow siblings who were posing as professors. He wanted to tell her about the images tormenting his dreams.

But he couldn't share these burdens with anyone. He trusted her more than he trusted most, but he still couldn't bring himself to share any of this with her. He had always played his cards close to the vest, and now was no different. He settled for a less difficult topic of discussion.

"Snivellus needs to be taken down a peg," he said with a false cheer in his voice as he tried to change the subject abruptly. Ginny had called Snape by that rather derogatory nickname early on in the year, and it had become very popular among the members of the D.A. Hannah flashed him an irritated look.

"Don't change the subject. You look terrible and Ginny tells me you haven't replied to her or Seamus's owls. I know you're worried sick about her. I am too, but you can't just ignore them."

"It's just... I can't."

"Can't what?"

"I have nothing to say to them! I can't put anything of value in writing, I can't tell Seamus until we get back after holiday, we all agreed on that," he said, putting his coffee cup back on the saucer with shaking hands.

"I know that, Neville. You think I've been putting anything other than the weather and what my cat has been doing in my letters? Because I haven't. We've been writing back and forth about nothing for days, and it's not to actually tell each other anything of value!"

"Then what's the point?"

"The point is to make sure everyone is alright! That no one's gone and got themselves arrested or killed!" She hissed, narrowing her eyes. "I was on my way to check on you now, actually."

"You were?" He said, surprised by this revelation.

"Yes I was, I was worried that you couldn't respond to their letters, not that you wouldn't. Look, everyone's worried about Luna enough; you don't need to add to their worry."

"All right, all right!" he said holding up his hands in surrender. "I didn't think-"

"That's obvious," she snapped. There was a pause before she sighed put her head in her hands. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that. It was rude. I'm just so scared, Neville. I'm just so absolutely terrified for all of them. Luna, Dean, Justin, Dennis and Colin. And _those_ three, of course."

"Me too."

They sat in silence for a while after that. Neither one wanted to go home, but they had nothing left to say.

"I'd best be off," Hannah said once the barista began to shoot them dirty looks for not ordering more coffee. She pulled out a ten pound note and set it on the counter, figuring that it was a more than generous tip. Neville did the same. Carrying around muggle money as well as wizarding money was habit for both of them, living in such close proximity to muggles. "Take care, Neville," she said as she turning abruptly and leaving the café, but not before he noticed glistening tear tracks on her blotchy red cheeks.

"Hannah wait!" he rushed out the door after her into the cold winter's day, but she had already disappeared.

He sighed and stuffed his hands in his pockets, and began trudging home, watching the snow at his feet and not paying much attention to where he was going. He bumped into a rather tall, muscular man.

"Sorry about th-" he stopped talking and his stomach clenched in fear. The man was dressed in expensive- looking black robes and wore a haughty expression over his regal features topped with black slicked back hair. Neville had only met the man once before, but he knew the man's face from dozens of wanted posters and flashes of his earliest, worst memory.

Rodolphus Lestrange regarded him coolly, a brutish smirk spreading across his face. "Neville Longbottom, is it? You look remarkably like your mother…" Neville stiffened at the casual reference to his mother's fate. He slowly slid his hand into his pocket and withdrew his wand. "You don't want to try that, boy. You might end up just like ol' mum and dad if you're not careful." Neville was shaking with rage.

"What do you want?" he demanded, glaring straight into the bastard's eyes. He refused to give Lestrange the satisfaction of seeing just how terrified he was. Lestrange chuckled and raised an eyebrow.

"I've been to see your Grandmother," he said, pausing to see the effect this had on Neville, who paled at his words. "Oh don't worry, she's alive, for now. I was looking for you, anyways. I'm here to do the Carrows a favour. I heard you've been giving them a fair bit of trouble, is that right, boy?" When Neville didn't respond but only continued to glare at him defiantly, he continued.

"You'll only get one warning from me. Either show professors Snape and Carrow some respect, or end up in the loony bin with your parents. And I will put you there myself. You hear me?"

Neville just glared at him, well aware that he was in no position to fight the man in the middle of the empty muggle street. He was alone, cornered, and if he failed in a duel, Gran would be killed. He had made that much clear. Best-case scenario would end with him in a cell in Azkaban. Maybe he would see Luna there.

"I asked you a question." Lestrange said.

"I'm aware." Neville snarled.

Lestrange gave cold glare before pivoting on the spot and disapparating away into the cold air with loud crack. Neville waited a few moments to be sure he wasn't returning before sprinting the rest of the way home.

When Neville reached the house he felt some relief that there was no Dark Mark hovering over the roof, but wasn't altogether reassuring to him. He knew better than anyone that death was not the only terrible thing that can happen to a person.

"Gran?" he called as ran through the empty doorway where splinters of the door littered the floor. "Gran? Where are you?" When there was no response he began to panic. He dashed into the kitchen where he saw his grandmother crumpled on the floor, wand still clutched in her hand. There was a shattered teacup on the floor, and chairs had been knocked over by what was clearly a struggle. Neville ran to her and felt for a pulse. It was strong, but slow. _Ennervate._ She opened her eyes slowly and looked around the chaotic room.

"Neville! Oh thank goodness you're all right," she stood slowly but seemed to be unharmed. "Are you all right?" she asked with a concerned look on her face. When he nodded, she turned her attention back to the devastated scene around them. With a wave of her wand the objects strewn across the floor zoomed back to their customary places and the teacup repaired itself, flying back up to the counter top.

"I'm fine, Gran. What did he do? What happened here?"

"I was in the kitchen making a cup of tea, and the front door was blasted apart. I couldn't get to my wand in time to protect myself. _He_ came in and began threatening the most horrible things… he was looking for you but I told him you were at Hogwarts. He said he knew I was lying, and there was a fight. I don't know why he didn't kill me, but he just stunned me. The coward," she said, growing angrier by the second.

"Lestrange was sent by the Carrows to do their dirty work. He threatened me, that's all. Don't worry, Gran, nothing happened. I just can't be caught off-guard like that again." Neville hid his shaking hands from her view. He didn't want her to worry about him. He could take care of himself.

Suddenly he remembered his promise to Hannah, and he excused himself up to his room to write the letters.

He pulled out a quill and ink, but couldn't think of what to say. He couldn't mention today's events with Lestrange, or even meeting Hannah in the café. Anything remotely useful could be intercepted and used against them.

_Dear Ginny,_ he hesitated. Would a letter put her in more danger? Had she gotten a visit from a Death Eater too? He pushed these thoughts out of his head and began writing.

_I hope this letter finds you well. The weather has been nice here, with the exception of a bitterly cold snowstorm. Only two days until Christmas! Be safe, Neville_

He looked it over. There was nothing of any substance in the letter, but like Hannah said, the words were not the reason for the letters. It was the reassurance that they were all still alive. He wrote similar letters to Seamus and Ernie before sending them off with his tawny owl, Barnabas. He returned downstairs, where Gran was fitting in a new front door. She handed him a small gold key.

"The door will only open to this key and my key, so don't lose it. Nowhere is safe anymore."

**************  
The following days were spent staying in the house and celebrating a quiet Christmas with his grandmother. He exchanged seemingly meaningless correspondence with his friends, and was always relieved when an owl would arrive from one of them. Owls flew in and out of the house several times a day, but Neville was glad for all of them, because they meant his friends had survived another day, which was not something to be taken for granted in times like these. He knew that he could have easily ended up dead when Lestrange came visiting.

Neville was not surprised when an old barn owl came soaring through the open window and collapsed on the table in front of him. Errol was flying far too much for a bird his age. Neville tore open the letter, expecting to find another note on the weather and was shocked by the urgency of the words scrawled hastily on the parchement.

_Neville-_

_Get over here now! There's news… I can't say in writing, just get over here!_

_ ~Ginny_

"Sorry Gran, I have to go see someone, I'll be back before dark," he said, not sure if he would be able to keep that promise.

"Neville Frank Longbottom you are not going anywhere. It's Christmas day, that time is for family!" Gran said as she tried to hide her fear behind a mask of anger. Neville showed her the letter.

"What if it's about Luna? Or Harry? Or Ron? I have to go, Gran," he avoided eye contact as he said this. He knew that she was still reeling from the attack days prior, and guilt welled up inside of him. She gave a curt nod and walked out of the room.

Neville went out into the cold and walked out onto the street before apparating to the village of Ottery St. Catchpole. He walked for a good half an hour before he reached the door of the Burrow. It was decorated for Christmas time, but the cheeriness of the decorations did nothing to pierce through the gloom that had settled around the country for months. Neville approached the door and knocked.

"Who's there?" a girl's voice called out.

"Neville Longbottom," he said. The door swung open and Ginny threw her arms around his neck before inviting him in. She was paler than usual, and he noticed her hands were shaking slightly as they walked into the kitchen where several people were gathered around a small wireless, listening intently. No one looked up as they entered the room.

"What's going on?" he said, turning to Ginny questioningly.

"Come on, we'll talk in the living room," she said, leading him out into a smaller, but empty, room. "Neville… something happened in Godric's Hollow last night. There was an attack. Bathilda Bagshot- you know, the woman who wrote the History of Magic textbook- was found dead, but it looks like she's been dead for months. There was an explosion and a fire, and You-Know-Who was spotted near the house. They're saying flowers were found on the Potter's graves. I think Harry was there, Neville. It had to be him!" she said, twisting a lock of hair around her finger nervously as he had seen her do so many times this year.

"That's good, it means he's alright! If he died they would try to make sure everyone knew- it would be very public," his excitement was building as he took in the news. This was proof, as he saw it, that Harry was alive and still fighting! He stopped when he saw the upset look on Ginny's face. "Gin? What-"

"Fred says that if You-Know-Who has found out that Ron is with them, we'll have to go into hiding. We won't know unless they come for us and even then it might be too late. Mum wants to pull me out of school anyways and have us all go into hiding, but Dad convinced her to let me stay, if I wanted. If I didn't come back the entire family would have to go undercover, and that would mean no more Potterwatch."

"What are you going to do?"

"Stay of course!"

"Ginny, you'd be so much safer if you didn't come back… they've been targeting you since day one and it's only going to get worse…" She scowled.

"I can take care of myself, _thank_ you very much."

"I know I just-"

"I wouldn't abandon the D.A., Neville. Not with Luna gone."

"She isn't gone, she's alive!" he snapped. A heavy silence fell over them, and they stood there awkwardly for a few minutes, each of their minds on their missing friends. "Heard anything about Dean?"

"Yeah, actually, he's travelling with a group of wizards and goblins, last anybody heard," she said, clearly glad for the change in subject.

"When was that?" Neville asked apprehensively. Seamus was eager for news, but if that news were several months old, it would mean little to nothing about Dean's safety.

"A few weeks ago, around the fifteenth. I suppose Seamus will be glad to hear something new," Neville sighed, not looking forward to breaking any of the news to Seamus. Seamus didn't need attract any more attention to himself; Neville wasn't sure if he would survive it- especially not the way detentions were looking these days.

"So… how have your holidays been?" Ginny fumbled around for a new topic awkwardly. Neville hesitated. He had hoped to avoid this particular subject.

"They've been… quiet I guess," he said looking at his feet. He was a terrible liar, and Ginny knew it. She narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips.

"What aren't you telling me?"

"Ginny-"

"Neville tell me."

He sighed. "Rodolphus Lestrange… he came by the other day."

"WHAT?" she shrieked. "And WHY exactly did you not mention this earlier?"

"I didn't think it was important at the time-"

"NOT IMPORTANT?" She was livid, and her ears were turning magenta as she shouted at him. "What the BLOODY HELL do you mean 'not important'?"

The talking in the kitchen had gone quiet and Neville was uncomfortably aware that the others were listening in.

"Ginny keep your voice down, they can hear us," he hissed, shooting her a glare.

"Don't you DARE tell me to keep my voice down, Neville Longbottom. What happened? And do NOT try to leave anything out. You are a horrible liar," she said. Nevertheless, she returned to a normal volume.

"It was nothing, I swear! Look, he just showed up one morning, I had gone for a walk and I ran into him on the street. He had just come from my house- apparently the Carrows sent him to threaten me to behave. The cowards," he spat.

"He was at your HOUSE?" her voice jumped an octave on the last word.

"He broke in when I was out. He caught Gran off-guard; otherwise he wouldn't have survived the attempt. He won't get away with it forever," Neville finished bitterly. He would never forget what that _monster_ did to his parents.

"Is your gran… is she…?"

"She's fine, she was just a bit shaken up. He asked her where I was and she said I stayed at Hogwarts, but he knew she was lying. He stunned her and left, but it could have been so much worse."

They stood silently for a while after that.

"Neville…" Ginny hesitantly broke the silence. "What did he threaten you with?"

Neville sat down on the nearest chair and put his head in his hands. It was all too much. What if it really was too dangerous? Would it be selfish to keep going with the D.A.? Would the Carrows actually send Lestrange to torture him to insanity like he did his parents? A frustrated tear squeezed its way out of his closed eyes, but he quickly wiped it away.

"Neville?" she asked gently.

"What do you think he threatened?" he said quietly. "He said he would kill Gran, and put me in Mungo's right next to my parents," his voice shook with anger.

"Oh."

Silence fell once more. After a few minutes of standing awkwardly, Neville spoke again.

"I will kill him. I will kill that sick son of a bitch," a vicious snarl twisted Neville's usually cheery features. Ginny stared at him, lost for words. She was, however, saved from having to respond by an interruption right at that moment.

A haggard and weary-looking Remus Lupin stepped through the door. His clothes were, if possible, more weatherworn then last Neville saw him. He had dark circles underneath his eyes and his face was pale with a five o'clock shadow just beginning to make an appearance.

"Professor?" Neville said in a surprised voice.

"Hello Neville. Ginny, your mother would like a word," he said, waiting until she left the room to continue speaking. When the door finally closed, he said, "Neville, what happened the other day?" Neville gaped at him. Lupin seemed to understand his confusion, however, so he said "Your grandmother contacted the Order immediately after the attack."

"Oh"

"So? What happened?" he pressed on, "Neville, the Order can help you if you're in danger, but we need to know what's going on."

"It's not me that I'm worried about."

"So what _really_ happened?"

"I was walking home and I ran into him, quite literally. He… he threatened…" he paused, not sure how much he wanted to reveal of the encounter. "Well, he was sent by the Carrows to try and intimidate me."

"Neville I hate to have to say this, but I think you and Ginny really ought to tamp down the pranks," his eyes were filled with concern, but Neville was infuriated by his words.

"So you want us to just lay down and take it, then?" he said angrily. "I'm not going to do that! There are Death Eaters at the school, for Merlin's sake! You don't know what it's like there. They're having kids do unforgivables on each other for lessons!"

"I'm not asking you to stop entirely, only to use caution. They've already targeted you, and the only thing protecting you now is your blood status. These are dangerous people, Neville. They may not have killed any students yet, but only because they want to turn whomever they can to their cause. Once they realize they can't manipulate you…" he trailed off, but there was no need to finish his sentence.

"They'll kill me, or worse," Neville said bitterly. "I _know_ that, Professor. But I can't let them keep doing what they've been doing, no matter the personal cost."

Lupin sighed, realizing the battle was lost. "Just… take care of yourself, Neville. Now come on, Molly made some pie that smells delicious, if we hurry."

As he entered the kitchen, he was struck not by what was there, but by what was not. Any trace of the Order's plans had been swept hastily off the table, and the kitchen was crowded, but not as crowded, as one would expect the Weasley's to be. The twins and Ginny were the only siblings home this holiday, and Mrs. Weasley had clearly compensated for the quiet Christmas with an overabundance of food. Neville looked around and half expected Ron to be sitting at the table pigging out while Hermione lectured him, and Harry flirted with Ginny. The tree stood in a corner, brightly wrapped packages sparkling underneath from the fairy lights spread through the tree's branches. It could almost be a regular Christmas, if you ignored the forced smiles, strained and not reaching their eyes. Lupin strode over to a very pregnant woman with bright pink hair and began having an animated conversation with her. Meanwhile, Fred and George sat at the far end of the table, whispering furiously with Ginny; they looked like they were arguing about something, and Ginny looked close to hitting them.

He caught snippets of their conversation as he moved towards their huddle.

"…Stand down… I won't…"

"…Not safe…"

"…None of your business what I do…"

Neville was just about to change his mind and sit nearer to Lupin when George- no- Fred stood up and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Ah, the man of the hour." He said loudly. "Come join the party." Fred's eyes narrowed.

"Er- I don't want to interrupt…"

"Nonsense! You aren't interrupting anything. Why don't you have a seat?" something in his tone told Neville that he was not asking.

Once he was seated next Ginny, George began speaking. It was clear that despite his soft tone, he was seething.

"Explain yourself."

Neville was baffled. "What?"

"Explain _why_ you thought it was a good idea to drag _kids_ into this."

"I'm _not_ a kid, George" Ginny interrupted.

"Sixteen is a kid."  
"You hypocrite! I didn't hear you complaining when the D.A. first started!"

"That's completely different! That was study group- we weren't planning on fighting a war on our own!"

"If the Order would help us we wouldn't be on our own!"

"The Order can't just storm the school, it's too well protected, and you know that!"

"George, Ginny, shut it a minute, Neville clearly has something to say." Fred said, nodding at Neville, who had indeed been trying to get a word in through the whole exchange.

"Look, we don't want this, but we haven't got a choice. The Carrows are ruthless- they make Umbridge look like a kind, reasonable woman. They were bullying the youngest kids the worst, and I'm worried that some of the first and second years especially are beginning to believe what they say about muggleborns and the Dark Arts. We formed for our own protection, and to keep spirits up. None of us take this lightly, but it's more important than ever to keep ourselves safe, and we have to look out for the younger years. No one under 3rd year is actually allowed in the D.A., for their own safety, and we figure the Carrows and Snape have only pegged a few of us, but they can't prove anything if we're careful."

"You don't look like you've been careful, either of you."

"These aren't from getting caught as D.A.", Neville said darkly.

"These are from refusing to curse other kids during class."

"So you haven't been caught with any D.A. stuff?"

"No! I mean, Seamus snuck out by himself once and got caught, but no one else has. Terry and Michael also figured out and brewed a batch of Veritaserum antidote, so we're all carrying a bit of that around just in case."

Fred and George seemed, for once, at a loss for words. At length, Fred asked how they were managing all of this in secret. Ginny rummaged in her pocket and pulled out a large gold coin.

"We're using the Galleon's again, thank God Hermione's a genius. Luna-", Neville felt a pang at the mention of her name, and something that flickered across Ginny's face when she said it made him know he wasn't the only terrified one, "-managed to make more for the new members, but we made some as Knuts and some as Sickles so it won't be suspicious that so many of us have the same coin."

"Look, I'm glad you're being careful, but I don't want to see you really hurt. Is there any way you could hook up our old ones to yours so that we know you're…?" George trailed off, but they all knew that he was going to say 'alive'. Neville pulled out two silver Sickles and handed them over to the twins.

"I always have one or two extra just in case." He glanced down at his watch. "I should probably get going."

"Just promise me one thing first, Neville. Promise me you'll look out for Ginny."

"Why does everyone think that I'm completely magically inept?" Ginny's ears began to turn red again.

"We all look out for each other. I promise." He got up and said his good-bye's quickly before heading home, hoping he could keep his promise to look out for Ginny, and trying to push out the little voice that kept reminding him that he didn't look out for Luna.


End file.
